Touch Problems with iOS 11? Blame Your Screen…

So, Apple launched iOS 11 just over a week back, and already one (apparent) issue with it is giving some people problems. Specifically, after upgrading to iOS 11, their screen stops responding correctly to touch, is generally glitchy and unusable, or the touch stops working completely.

We’ve already had customers in our St Andrews store with this problem… but here’s what’s interesting. We looked into the issue and it turned out that in our case- and others’- the affected phones all had non-original “copy” replacement screens fitted.

In short, iOS 11 isn’t really to blame at all. The problem lies with independently-produced copy screens containing underpowered touch processing (digitizer driver) chips that can’t keep up with iOS 11 like the genuine ones can.

This is just the latest of a large number of issues relating to copy screens which we’ve discussed previously in detail. That’s why we’ve long advised our customers to pay a bit extra and go for a genuine original Apple screen whenever available.

(If you want to skip the background and find out how to have your screen replaced with an original that works fine with iOS 11 click here).

The Copy Screen Industry

Although they can be fitted in place of the original Apple units, third party “copy” displays aren’t put together the same way. Apple’s has the digitizer (touch sensor) manufactured directly onto the LCD. The copy displays have it added later as part of the glass layer- it’s not a part of the underlying LCD itself.

There are only a small number of companies that actually make the copy LCDs themselves. These are major Chinese-based companies that also produce LCDs for laptops, televisions and so on. As a result, they can’t take the risk of legal action from Apple or the Chinese government by selling complete replacement displays.

Instead, numerous other much smaller companies buy the bare LCDs from them. These other companies than add the glass- complete with their own choice of digitizer parts- and all the other components needed for a complete iPhone-compatible display unit.

It’s these parts added to the LCD itself- including the glass-based digitizer- that are the cause of the problem. Because there are so many such companies, and potentially almost limitless combinations of parts, there are major variations in quality between “copy” display units from different sources, and they’re almost impossible to keep track of.

(We should make clear that most repair stores don’t even try- they generally fit whatever random display their distributor sent to them. Some aren’t even aware of the difference between original, refurb and copy screens and don’t much care either, so long as they can fob the customer off)

How We Got Here

In the beginning, there were no such things as a “compatible” digitizer driver ICs, only original Apple ones recovered from broken displays. Early copy displays were effectively a hybrid of a copy LCD with these original ICs.

The picture quality was nowhere near that of a genuine Apple unit, but the touch- because it was built around a genuine Apple chip- was good. As a result, copy units gained a reputation for reliability (one that would later prove misleading when the copy industry stopped using Apple ICs) and their use soared in the repair industry.

Unfortunately, the limited number of recovered chips combined with this increase in popularity pushed up prices and drove the development of “compatible” digitizer driver ICs. These non-Apple ICs are the ones used in most screens today.

Unfortunately, a large proportion are nowhere near as powerful as Apple’s original IC. When used with the particularly-demanding iOS 11- designed with Apple’s performance in mind- they often fall over, leading to the “iOS 11 touch problem”.

Keeping Track of the Problem

As we said above, the number of parts available combined with the number of manufacturers picking and choosing them makes this almost impossible to keep track of

For example, there are over a hundred manufacturers of compatible digitizer ICs alone. Keeping track of those which have problems with iOS 11 (and those which don’t) is even harder when you have to consider the number of potential combinations.

We do know that Hancai and Tianma LCDs which use digitizer ICs manufactured by Aichuangjia don’t work properly with iOS 11- the IC isn’t sufficiently powerful, and shuts down, losing touch altogether. This combination is particularly common on low-end displays.

In truth though, all this (futile) effort is really a waste of time, as even the iOS 11 problem is just one of numerous issues with copy screens. Anyone who cares enough about this sort of thing- such as ourselves- would recommend their customers simply stick to original displays.

The Solution- Always Choose Genuine Original Replacements

Didn’t follow everything we said above or skipped it altogether? Doesn’t matter! As a customer you shouldn’t need to know that anyway.

What you do need to remember is what we tell all our customers- when you’re having your iPhone screen replaced, always go for the original display where possible. This avoids any compatibility and quality issues or the risk of problems further down the road when you’ll need to get your screen replaced again anyway. Did we mention that having a genuine screen fitted only costs a few pounds more when you buy it from us? It’s common sense.

If you’re having iOS 11 touch problems, let us take a look to see if it’s due to a poor-quality screen and arrange a replacement if necessary. Contact us to organise a screen replacement in our St Andrews branch at 1 City Road today.